The civilian gunman who shot and killed a sailor at Naval Station Norfolk has been identified as a Portsmouth resident with a criminal history. Jeffrey Tyrone Savage, 35, was identified by Navy Times, citing sources familiar with the investigation. The Daily Press confirmed the name through an additional source. Savage was 35 years old, and his motive in the case remains unclear. Late Monday night, he entered Naval Station Norfolk driving a semi-truck and parked near Pier 1. He approached the guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan and confronted the petty officer of the watch.

The civilian gunman who shot and killed a sailor at Naval Station Norfolk has been identified as a Portsmouth resident with a criminal history. Jeffrey Tyrone Savage, 35, was identified by Navy Times, citing sources familiar with the investigation. The Daily Press confirmed the name through an additional source. Savage was 35 years old, and his motive in the case remains unclear. Late Monday night, he entered Naval Station Norfolk driving a semi-truck and parked near Pier 1. He approached the guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan and confronted the petty officer of the watch.

The commanding officer of the Little Creek-based USS Fort McHenry has been relieved amid an investigation into unspecified allegations of misconduct, the Navy announced Monday. Cmdr. Ray Hartman had commanded the amphibious dock-landing ship since May 2001. The ship is currently deployed in the Mediterranean Sea in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of responsibility. Hartman was due to be relieved on Dec. 12 by Cmdr. Eric Kellum. Because of the investigation, Vice Adm. Frank C. Pandolfe "directed the accelerated change of command," according to a Navy press release.

The commanding officer of the Little Creek-based USS Fort McHenry has been relieved amid an investigation into unspecified allegations of misconduct, the Navy announced Monday. Cmdr. Ray Hartman had commanded the amphibious dock-landing ship since May 2001. The ship is currently deployed in the Mediterranean Sea in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of responsibility. Hartman was due to be relieved on Dec. 12 by Cmdr. Eric Kellum. Because of the investigation, Vice Adm. Frank C. Pandolfe "directed the accelerated change of command," according to a Navy press release.

Three Navy SEALs, including a Yorktown man who was a champion high school swimmer, have been charged in the alleged assault of a most-wanted detainee they captured in Iraq. The case is already stirring controversy over the prospect of the SEALs facing courts-martial for their treatment of a man thought to have masterminded the killing, mutilation and public display of U.S. contractors in 2004. The SEALs will be arraigned in a military court in Norfolk on Dec. 7, said Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, a spokeswoman with U.S. Special Operations Command Central.

The unofficial weekly newspapers of the Army and Air Force have called on the Pentagon to end its ban on homosexuals in the armed services, although just last year they refused to publish an advertisement praising gay soldiers in the Persian Gulf war. The publications, Army Times and Air Force Times, say in editorials in their Aug. 24 issues that "discrimination based on sexual preference is no more legitimate than that based on race, gender or...

Forget that Langley Air Force Base will be home to the first F/A-22 Raptor squadron or that hundreds of local airmen have deployed to support the war in Iraq. According to the third annual reader poll taken by the Air Force Times, a privately owned newspaper, out of 78 major Air Force bases worldwide, Langley is the best base for recreation. Tens of thousands of readers voted. More than 2,000 voted for Langley. Elgin Air Force Base in Florida was voted the best base overall.

The Navy late Tuesday put the brakes on a proposal that would have allowed its chaplains to officiate same-sex marriages at military chapels after the Pentagon axes its "don't ask, don't tell" policy later this year. In a one-sentence memo distributed by the Navy, Rear Adm. Mark Tidd, the chief of Navy chaplains, said his earlier decision to allow chaplains to perform the ceremonies on military bases "is hereby suspended until further notice pending additional legal and policy review and interdepartmental coordination.

REGION UKROP'S EXPANSION. Ukrop's Super Markets Inc. plans to open five stores, one of them in Williamsburg by 1998, in a $125 million expansion that will take it into markets outside Richmond. The chain also plans to relocate three stores and expand six by the end of 1999. In an unprecedented move for the company, Ukrop's plans to pay for a large part of the project by taking on debt. Supermarket observers and industry analysts said the expansion is a pre-emptive strike against further encroachment from grocery chains such as area newcomers Hannaford Bros.

The former skipper of the USS Enterprise who lost his job after producing lewd videos is attempting to mobilize public support in advance of a key judicial proceeding. Capt. Owen P. Honors has launched a website, urging friends and supporters to submit comments to members of a Board of Inquiry. The board will determine whether Honors should be separated from the Navy after a 27-year career, and if so, what type of discharge he should receive. The board may also make a recommendation to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus on Honors' final pay grade for retirement purposes, according to the website.

The former skipper of the USS Enterprise who lost his job after producing lewd videos is attempting to mobilize public support in advance of a key judicial proceeding. Capt. Owen P. Honors has launched a website, urging friends and supporters to submit comments to members of a Board of Inquiry. The board will determine whether Honors should be separated from the Navy after a 27-year career, and if so, what type of discharge he should receive. The board may also make a recommendation to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus on Honors' final pay grade for retirement purposes, according to the website.

PORTSMOUTH — The commanding officer of Norfolk Naval Shipyard has been removed from his position pending a formal investigation by the Naval Inspector General into "command environment" issues, the Navy said Monday. Capt. Greg Thomas, who has been the top officer at the Portsmouth ship-repair facility since September, was assigned to temporary duty at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Washington, D.C., pending the investigation. Navy spokeswoman Patricia K. Dolan provided no details on why Thomas was temporarily reassigned, citing the pending investigation, which is scheduled to begin the first week of June and could take four to six weeks.

The Navy late Tuesday put the brakes on a proposal that would have allowed its chaplains to officiate same-sex marriages at military chapels after the Pentagon axes its "don't ask, don't tell" policy later this year. In a one-sentence memo distributed by the Navy, Rear Adm. Mark Tidd, the chief of Navy chaplains, said his earlier decision to allow chaplains to perform the ceremonies on military bases "is hereby suspended until further notice pending additional legal and policy review and interdepartmental coordination.

Navy chaplains will be able to perform same-sex marriages in military chapels following the end of the military's "don't ask, don't' tell" policy, according to an update of the service's preliminary training guidelines. An April 13 memo from Rear Adm. Mark Tidd, the chief of Navy chaplains, says "a chaplain may officiate a same-sex, civil marriage if it is conducted in accordance with a state that permits same-sex marriage or union. " Virginia does not recognize same-sex marriage.

The last of three Navy SEALs accused of mistreating a suspected terrorist is scheduled to appear in court today. Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe, of Yorktown, is set to be arraigned at Naval Station Norfolk at 8:30 a.m. He and two other SEALs are charged with mistreating Ahmed Hashim Abed, the suspected mastermind of a 2004 ambush in Iraq that killed four employees of the private security firm Blackwater USA. The...

Three Navy SEALs, including a Yorktown man who was a champion high school swimmer, have been charged in the alleged assault of a most-wanted detainee they captured in Iraq. The case is already stirring controversy over the prospect of the SEALs facing courts-martial for their treatment of a man thought to have masterminded the killing, mutilation and public display of U.S. contractors in 2004. The SEALs will be arraigned in a military court in Norfolk on Dec. 7, said Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, a spokeswoman with U.S. Special Operations Command Central.

The last of three Navy SEALs accused of mistreating a suspected terrorist is scheduled to appear in court today. Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe, of Yorktown, is set to be arraigned at Naval Station Norfolk at 8:30 a.m. He and two other SEALs are charged with mistreating Ahmed Hashim Abed, the suspected mastermind of a 2004 ambush in Iraq that killed four employees of the private security firm Blackwater USA. The...

ARMY NATIONAL GUARD Richmond-based unit going to Afghanistan RICHMOND - The Virginia Army National Guard says a Richmond-based engineering unit is being called to deploy to Afghanistan. Officials say about 190 soldiers with the 276th Engineer Battalion Headquarters will enter active federal service in November and conduct training before deployment. A large number of the soldiers are from the Richmond area. But the unit has members from throughout Virginia, including Northern Virginia; Hampton Roads; and the Fredericksburg, Lynchburg and Charlottesville areas.

Maybe it's just the season, but there seems to be a good deal of military and veterans news emanating from Washington these days - besides a certain change-of-command ceremony Tuesday that was very well attended. Lost in all the hubbub of Tuesday's inauguration of President Barack Obama was the confirmation of retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. Shinseki is best known for delivering some no-nonsense advice before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, saying it would require hundreds of thousands of troops to stabilize that country in a post-war setting.

ARMY NATIONAL GUARD Richmond-based unit going to Afghanistan RICHMOND - The Virginia Army National Guard says a Richmond-based engineering unit is being called to deploy to Afghanistan. Officials say about 190 soldiers with the 276th Engineer Battalion Headquarters will enter active federal service in November and conduct training before deployment. A large number of the soldiers are from the Richmond area. But the unit has members from throughout Virginia, including Northern Virginia; Hampton Roads; and the Fredericksburg, Lynchburg and Charlottesville areas.